Modifiable entities such as entities with joints or entities which may deform in part or whole are able to exist in many different configurations and shapes. For example, articulated entities such as the human body, animals, jointed robots, plants, or articulated or deformable parts of such entities including human body organs, are able to exist in different shapes and in different poses. For example, a human hand may be outstretched, curled into a fist or held in many other different poses. It may also exist in different shapes according to individual differences between people.
Previous image processing approaches to interpreting modifiable entities such as the human body, animals or part of these have involved estimating the positions or angles between joints given an image or set of images of the entity. A skeletal model of the human body may be computed and tracked using such estimates from sequences of images. There is an ongoing need to improve accuracy and speed of computation especially since real time processing is needed for many practical applications such as robotics, computer gaming, medical image processing, telepresence, healthcare, sports training and others.
The embodiments described below are not limited to implementations which solve any or all of the disadvantages of known systems for interpreting observed data depicting one or more modifiable entities.